---
name: Exploratory Testing
description: Find what scripted tests cannot.
---
# Exploratory Testing

Scripted tests confirm what you predicted would work does. Exploratory testing finds what you didn't predict — the bugs born of assumptions nobody wrote down.

## Method
- **Charter, not script.** "Explore the checkout flow with edge-case payment data" — a goal and a focus, not step-by-step.
- **Think aloud, take notes.** What you tried, what surprised you. Surprises are the signal.
- **Follow the bugs.** When something odd happens, dig. Edge cases cluster.
- **Time-box.** 60-90 minute sessions keep focus; longer and exploration becomes wandering.

## What to probe
- Boundaries (0, 1, max, max+1), unusual inputs (unicode, very long, special chars), concurrent actions, network failures mid-flow, back-button weirdness. The places developers didn't think to defend.